Gilroy Garlic Festival facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Gilroy Garlic Festival |
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| Status | Active |
| Genre | Fairs |
| Begins | Last Friday in July |
| Ends | Following Sunday |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Venue | Christmas Hill Park |
| Location(s) | Gilroy, California |
| Coordinates | 36°59′52″N 121°35′7″W / 36.99778°N 121.58528°W |
| Country | United States |
| Years active | 45 |
The Gilroy Garlic Festival is a food festival in the United States, held annually in Gilroy, California, on the last full weekend in July at Christmas Hill Park. The most recent festival was held on 26–28 July 2019. Since there was no event in 2020, the 42nd is deferred to 2021.
An annual three-day event, the Gilroy Garlic Festival is one of the country's best known food festivals, drawing visitors from across the nation. Located about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of San Jose, Gilroy is home to about 60,000 people, and the city is a major producer of garlic. The festival is Gilroy's top fundraiser, staffed with volunteers to raise money for nonprofit groups including clubs and schools.
History
The Garlic Festival has been held every year since 1979, except 2020 when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rudolph J. Malone, then President of Gavilan College in Gilroy, was inspired by a small town in France which hosted an annual garlic festival and claimed to be the "Garlic Capital of the World." Malone started the festival, which now draws more than hundreds of thousands of paying visitors a year.
Gallery
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Garlic food varieties, 2006
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Garlic food choices, 2006
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Garlic themed t-shirts, 2006
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Visitors tasting free samples of garlic ice cream, 2007
See also
In Spanish: Gilroy Garlic Festival para niños
